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Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Author Diana Nixon was here last September, February, and July to talk about her paranormal romance series, Love Lines. Today, she sent her main characters, Eileen Lillian Clark and Christian Jason Patrick Fairey, to talk to Tess.

Book Trailer

About the characters:

Eileen Lillian Clark is 18 years old. She was born on October 3rd, in a small town named Norfield that is in south-west Britain. Eileen is a first-year student of Dever University and possesses magic and the powers of natural elements.

Christian Jason Patrick Fairey is 21 years old. He was born on December 4th in Norfield. Christian is a third-year student of Dever University and possesses the power of fire.

Tess Talks to Eileen & Christian

Welcome you all. Tell me, how did you first meet Diana Nixon?

Eileen: It happened at the end of August, when I was about to go to the University of Sheffield, but apparently Diana thought it was a very boring place for someone like me. So she sent me to Dever, a closed university for people with different special gifts. Now I realize that it was the right thing to do. How did she know about my supernatural talents? I have no idea:)

Christian: My first meeting with the author was kind of … unexpected. I couldn’t even imagine that she was able to complicate my life even more than it had been already complicated by my parents and the fate that led me to Dever. Now I can’t stop wondering about the new challenges that Diana’s preparing for us in the next books:)

Want to dish about Diana?

Eileen (giggling): You sure she won’t kill us in the next book for saying that aloud? Okay. So … there are moments when I desperately want to scream, “What the hell? Another problem? Why don’t you give us a break?” But when Diana has an idea in her head, it’s almost impossible to talk her out of it. She’s the last person to argue with:) She never gives up, so no matter how many bruises we get, she always wants us to fight more.

Christian: I can’t but agree with Eileen, the number of obstacles that Diana makes us go through is enormous. And just for the record, I didn’t enjoy freezing in Eric’s dream. Not a bit. So please, next time choose someone else to be locked up in middle of nowhere. Thanks:) By the way, did you know that when Diana was a child she adored horror movies, and now she can watch them only with the lights on?

Interesting! Tell us about your favorite scene in the series.

Eileen: Apart from all those beautiful, romantic moments that you can see in all of the Love Lines books, I liked the battle with the Dragons from Diamond Sky. It was the most spectacular episode of what we’d ever seen in the series, and so many things depended on its outcome. Our lives were at stake, and maybe it was the first time when we actually realized how much we meant to each other; how much love and friendship meant to all of us.

Christian: My favorite scene of the series was the night before the fight with the Dragons (smiling). Even though I realized that it could be the last time to see Eileen, to hold her in my embrace, I didn’t want to think about tomorrow. And the two of us managed to find some time for each other. And this is one of those things that our author never lets us enjoy for too long. It’s like when you give a candy to a kid, and then take it away a few moments later. So unfair:)

Did you have a hard time convincing your author to write any particular scenes for you?

Eileen: I never wanted Christian to be kidnapped. I couldn’t believe he disappeared at the end of Love Lines. I thought it would be impossible to get to the end of Songs of the Wind without him. That’s why I tried my best to convince Diana to write those songs that were sending messages from Christian. It was the only thing that made me wake up every day without him.

Christian: Diamond Sky was supposed to end up with Eileen and me breaking up. But I couldn’t let it happen. That’s why the moment of breaking up still exists in the book, followed by the reunion a few chapters later:)

If you could rewrite anything in your book, what would it be?

Eileen: I’d like to change Evan’s story; his life and his past. We don’t know what will happen to him in the next book, but what has already happened is really harsh.

Christian: I would gladly take away a few of Eileen’s powers (laughing). Not that I’m jealous about her gifts, but I’m really scared of losing her. And we all know how dangerous it is to posses the powers of magic along with the powers of all the natural elements.

Tell the truth. What do you think of your fellow characters?

Eileen: Hmm … it’s a hard question to answer. I like my character’s strong will. I think it’s a good quality for every person. Eileen is too stubborn sometimes, but everything she does, she does for Christian, her family and her friends. So don’t judge her too harshly:)

Christian: I think my character is a good guy:) He’s loving and caring. He knows how to surprise, and he’s ready to do anything possible and impossible to protect those he loves.

What impression do you make on people when they first meet you? How about after they've

known you for a while?

Christian: I’m sure that after reading Love Lines people will say that I’m a perfect picture of a guy to date. But I’m a Sagittarius after all, so I can be impatient and sharp. That’s why I need someone like Eileen – a girl with an attitude who’s able to stand me:)

Eileen: I think when readers get to the end of Songs of the Wind they see my character from a different point of view. Eileen Clark becomes even more determined and responsible. Sometime she does things that irritate others, but hate is the last thing of what she wants people to feel for her.

Tell us about your best friends.

Christian: Well, Evan … he’s one hell of a friend to have:) He knows how to recognize lies; he has a very good intuition; it’s almost impossible to hide things from him. He’s sarcastic, but funny; he’s a good-natured man as well. And probably the best candidate for a companion when it comes to something really stupid to do:)

Eileen: As Christian has already mentioned Evan, who’s my friend too, I will tell you a few words about Amanda. She’s a person whose thoughts are always pronounced aloud. Sometimes I think that her mind thinks too fast, and it doesn’t have time to rephrase some of her sharp comments:) But still we like her for that. I’ve never regretted being her best friend. With a friend like Amanda, you will find a way out of every complicated situation.

What are you most afraid of?

Eileen: There are so many things I’m afraid of, that I don’t even know what to start with. I don’t want to lose Christian, my true and only love; I’m afraid of losing control over my powers, and I can’t imagine my life without Evan. Losing him means losing a part of me. And I’m not sure if I can live with that part of me missing.

Christian: I will repeat Eileen’s words, as her fears are the reflection of mine. And if I lose her, I will lose everything.What aspect of Diana’s writing style do you like best?

Eileen: I like the way Diana builds her stories. The twists of the plot are so unpredictable, that sometimes it’s really hard to keep calm when a new secret is being disclosed, and the truth about certain things is shocking.

Christian: My favorite part is dialogs. They are easy to read and comprehend.

Will you encourage your author to write another book in the series?

Eileen: Oh, yes:) We already know that there will be two more books about our characters. And who knows, maybe when the series is over, there will be something else to tell about our lives:)

Book 1: Love Lines

The traces of supernatural powers have always been
crossing the world of human beings. Many people know about the existence
of healers, mind readers, oneiromancers and wizards. But for centuries
their lives have been kept secret and no one has ever heard about one
special place, where those gifted people studied. Neither has Eileen
Clark, whose life has never been different from the one other teenagers
have. But one day everything changes. Eileen finds out that she belongs
to the mysterious world of unnatural and the destiny leads her to Dever –
a closed university for the people like her. Nothing will ever be the
same again… New life, new friends, new enemies… But the true love will
never let her down. It will help to go through everything…. #1 – Love
lines The story begins with a strange dream, which has been torturing
Eileen for nights. Trying to find out its hidden meaning she leans on
her best friend Amanda for help. The two of them go to a fortune-teller,
who predicts changes in Eileen’s life. Eileen and Amanda, whose family
is one of the seven founders of Dever, go there to start new life and
get education. Coming to the university Eileen meets Christian,
Amanda’s brother, whom she falls in love with from the very first sight.
But, as it turns out later, Christian is in love with her too. They
couldn’t even imagine that many years ago their lives were bound by
magical spells. But now they have to find out why…

Book 2: Songs of the Wind

Losing Christian hasn’t been easy for Eileen. But she’s not going to give up. Now she has to find a way to bring him back from the magical dream, where he was taken by Eric Lanster. Together with her friend Evan, Eileen goes to France – Meridin’s motherland, where she hopes to find out the mysteries of the dream’s magic. In a small town named Fontainbleau they meet a wizard, who turns out to know a lot of their secrets… Determined to help Eileen, Evan agrees to complete some special dream piercing training. But he can’t even imagine what he has put himself into. The magic of dreams keeps a lot of secrets. The spells are dangerous and their consequences no one is able to predict. Friends can become enemies….The ones they used to call their family can become traitors….But the ones they love will always be there to help....

Book 2.5: From Scratch

Our lives are a cascade of events that pass faster than we would like them to. Time changes everything. Our habits, our views, our circle of friends. But there is one thing that remains the same over the years. Our memories.Through them we cherish the most unforgettable moments of our history. And they also retain some things that can't be forgotten….But one day you realize that yesterday should be left in the past. Because tomorrow your new life begins, and you go back to the drawing board. A love story of Evan Murray and Tara Mackenzie.A story that should last forever….But no one knows when forever ends….

Book 3: Diamond Sky

A new page of the Love Lines story that will reveal new secrets and mysteries buried in the walls of Dever. Eileen, Christian and Evan need to find an old spell to protect themselves and those they love from being killed. There is only one problem – no one knows where the spell is hidden…. A mysterious student comes to Dever. A boy whose eyes are always watching. Who is he? What secrets are hidden behind his smiles? Is he a friend or an enemy?... When they thought they knew everything about the super powers they possessed, they could have never imagined that in reality they didn’t know a thing. The wind can turn into the worst hurricane they have ever seen. The water can destroy everything. The earth can swallow them alive. And the fire can burn them to ashes…. The illusions - the only thing they tried to run away from, will come back to ruin the world they live in, taking away everything they ever cherished and loved. When you think you are so close to getting what you want, think twice about your every step. Because what you think is the right thing to do may take away your life….

About the author:

Diana Nixon was born in Minsk, Belarus, where she currently lives. In 2008 she graduated from Belorussian state University. She has a Master of Law degree and speaks several foreign languages, including English, Polish and Spanish. Diana is a fantasy author, best known for her Love Lines series.

Welcome to the fifth day of The Journey blog tour. It will run until August 9th and will feature excerpts and new author interviews each day. But first, here is the obligatory blurb about the novel to settle you into this strange world:

The Frozen Man. The Translucent Man. The Burning Man. The Wicker Man. The guide known only as the Crossroads, together these are the signposts and totems of the world that the being called the Lonely inhabits. Seeking out the meaning of his journey, the Lonely is a being consumed by philosophical inquiry and adventure. Filled with exotic places and age-old questions, the Journey is a book that seeks to merge the fantastical and real. Join the Lonely as he seeks out answers to his own existence and perhaps the meaning for us all.

A few questions for the author:

Would you rather lose all of your old memories, or never be able to make new ones?

This is a tough question. I would not want to lose old memories because they make me who I am. Though without the ability to form new memories, I would never be able to change and adapt to the world around me.

Is it possible to know the truth without challenging it first?

In a clinical sense, yes. However, I think we learn the most about the nature of truth when we challenge rigid and unfounded ideas that drive our life. I am a strong proponent of rallying against institutional ideas to learn as much as we can about the vastness of our universe.

Has your greatest fear ever come true?

Not yet, and I hope it never does.

Here be an excerpt for your enjoyment:

V

The Frozen Man

The Lonely marched into the darkness that was the tundra. The cold was all around him, though he felt nothing, neither warmth nor freezing cold. A man stood alone in the field, his features obscured.

“Why have you come to the North?” called the figure.

“I seek answers. I wish to know of the Truth.”

“Then you are the Lonely. I am called the Frozen Man.”

“Tell me of the North, Frozen Man.”

The Frozen Man was a pale silhouette defined by coal black eyes and hair. He spoke without inflection, without emotion, without feeling. “The North is a cold place, a desolate place. There is nothing here but survival. There cannot be failure, for failure is the death of the mind.”

“But how can there be success without failure?”

“There is no emotion here, no feeling. We of the North do not require emotions. Our success comes from science, not from emotions. Our accomplishments are different from all others. Ours are hollow, though we cannot see that.”

“Why are you here in the cold?”

“Cold permeates my being, my core. My body long ago ceased to possess the fire of passions, of emotions. A shell remains. This is the price I have paid to become the man I am. Though it was truly only half a life.”

The cold winds blew over the Lonely and the Frozen Man, their still forms holding strong against the elements. If there was nothing here to begin with, then against what were they truly holding strong?

“Why am I here?” called the Lonely.

“This is not your place. This place is for those who truly feel nothing. Those who have left nothing behind.”

“Then my answers cannot be found here?”

“The questions for which you seek answers can only be provided by the one who holds the keys to your creation: the Keeper of the Fates. Though he is no farther from you than you are to me.”

“I feel strange, as though I had just begun, or just ended. This place is so familiar, yet so distant. Why do I feel as I do?”

“This place is both a beginning and an end. Your presence here is a journey, one which molds you, shaping the person you will become.”

“Who am I?” spoke the Lonely.

The winds shifted yet again, but neither entity moved.

The world around them howled in silence, in the vast emptiness that was both nothingness and infinity. The Frozen Man’s features had shifted. His skin had grown paler, so much so that it was now azure.

It was the color of the icy waters of frozen lands.

“You are the Lonely,” the Frozen Man spoke.

“What does it mean to be the Lonely?” iterated the monotone, unflinching figure of the Lonely.

The Frozen Man’s face sluiced with icicles as if he were growing ever colder. “That is perspective. Your name here in the North would be of high status. To achieve a place where you require no solace or emotion would be a gift. True solitude would allow for incomparable logics and histories.”

The Lonely wrung his hands and looked down at the tattered rags that he wore. “Why do I not have fine clothes?”

“There is no need for such frivolities here. For in the North, it is your mind that is the greatest commodity. Why would any man place a material thing such as riches above intelligence? What can be gained by this?” returned the Frozen Man, his coal eyes watching the Lonely.

The Lonely looked off into the distance and saw only more tundra. The landscape about him was nothing more than a never-changing white sheet splashed occasionally with peaks and valleys of a useless existence. “To base one’s life? To give meaning?” the Lonely returned quizzically.

“Is intelligence not a grand enough reward, worthy enough pursuit?”

The Lonely shook his head, running his hands over his face. He felt for the first time that his skin was smooth, and warm. “Perhaps, but at the expense of longing and connection it may be too little of an effort for a life.”

The Frozen Man faded and then reappeared behind the Lonely. This time it stood twice the height of the smaller man. “We must all focus and commit to something. Can you think of something nobler? More important?”

The Lonely looked upon the horrific image of the giant Frozen Man. “I do not know. How can I possibly? I do not remember who I am or how I came to be here.” Then lowering his head, he mumbled. “Am I dead?”

“What is death?” echoed the Frozen Man.

The Lonely shook his head, defeated.

“To not live? Cessation of functions?”

The wind howled across them, but the Lonely could not feel the frigid touch of the gales, nor hear its mammoth cry. “To die is then to cease brain function? Is that what you believe?”

The Lonely shrugged; the act as difficult for him as it had been for Atlas. “I do not know,” he answered.

The Frozen Man nodded, crossing his mighty arms across his chest. “Then by that definition you are dead. Your body is no longer functioning in the realm from which you have come. Here you are anew.”

“Then am I not alive?” replied the Lonely, lifting his head to meet the empty gaze of the Frozen Man. Touching his skin and pressing his palms together, he gestured. “Am I not form again? Is this not a state of being?”

“What then is life?” mocked the Frozen Man.

The Lonely kicked aimlessly at the snow beneath his feet. As he did so, he realized that he wore no boots, nor shoes.

His feet were barren and his skin tan.

“I have no shoes.”

The Frozen Man did not seem surprised. “If you did not have a coat, why then would you possess foot coverings?”

“Is this all a dream?” whispered the Lonely. “How can I know that I am not dreaming?”

The Frozen Man had ceased to resemble a man any longer and appeared more as an ice creature. A gargantuan mound stood where the Frozen Man had previously and only the voice emanated from the mountain of ice. “To dream is a state in which there are concurrently literal and figurative meanings.”

“This must be a dream,” repeated the Lonely.

“A dream can be had when one is conscious or unconscious. To have a dream is to possess a wish or hope for the future to which all subsequent actions are directed. Are you asleep? Imagining this? Perhaps, but how could you tell? I would not know the answer to that question. Only you could know such a thing,” answered the Frozen Man, its voice like thunder rising from the depths.

“I have never dreamed such a dream as this. As well, I had never wished to be bound to such a place; so by your definition this cannot be a dream,” began the Lonely slowly. “However, that is by your definition and if this were a dream, then it would be based on my definitions, my wants and beliefs.”

The mound shuddered and the Lonely turned away.

A white glow struck out that was soon accompanied by a piercing whine that rose and rose yet again, until the mound dissipated in a storm of ice crystals. Removing his hand from his eyes, the Lonely saw that the Frozen Man had returned: where before it had been a pale man, it was now only the metallic exoskeleton of a robot.

Pivots and rotors of steel framed the creature.

It was now the very core of what it wished to be.

The Lonely looked upon what the Frozen Man had become. “You do not see a difference, do you?” queried the Lonely. “In yourself, when you look upon yourself. When you see yourself now it is as it has always been?”

The Frozen Man nodded.

“Flesh, humanity, emotion. These are devices and totems that hold no merit. We of the North require none of them. We are whole in our intelligence.”

The Lonely was not satisfied.

“Your intelligence cannot be complete when you see only one piece of the spectrum. To believe yourself whole by adhering only to the tenants of a pure intelligence, you neglect the aspects of other forms of intelligence. There is much more than accumulated knowledge. Can you not see that in all of your perceived wisdom?”

“By shedding all human endeavors, we can understand what makes them weak, incomplete. In our objectivity we need not experience them, only witness and catalogue,” replied the Frozen Man.

“There is not one form of intelligence greater than that of another. You speak as though the ones inferior are not worthy of your time. They are equal in the balance of things,” offered the Lonely.

The scream was like that of a thousand voices breaking upon one another. The mountains shook, the ice split at the feet of the Lonely. “Lies.”

The Lonely stepped forward, moving away from an ever-growing crack at his bare feet. “They are not lies, but perspective, true objectivity. What you look upon as truth is little more than the subjective product of your unfair judgments.”

The Frozen Man shook violently, the pistons of its joints spewed wildly. Its face, no longer masculine or feminine, contorted horrifically. “No, what you speak of is evil. Those are lies.”

“Is it evil to speak the truth?”

The Frozen Man had begun to hunch.

“The Truth is. It is without right and wrong, for morality is created by societal law influenced by perspective. Therefore information is neither evil nor good, but instead detrimental in the hands of those who do not understand.”

The Lonely nodded.

“Precisely, so what I speak is simply information that is hurtful because of what you believe. That does not make it truth or lies, it simply is.”

The Frozen Man had been reduced to little more than a dwarfish version of itself. “There are no more answers for you here. Leave at once.”

The Lonely opened his mouth to reply, but he felt a force tug upon the very fiber of his being. At first in one direction and then another, until his body was being pulled in so many directions that he felt as if he was going to be torn into nothingness. The world before his eyes was at once light and darkness and he faded.

Author Bio: A psychologist, author, editor, philosopher, martial artist, and skeptic, he has published several novels and currently has many in print, including: The End of the World Playlist, Bitten, The Journey, The Ocean and the Hourglass, The Path of the Fallen, The Portent, and Cerulean Dreams. Follow him on Twitter (@AuthorDanOBrien) or visit his blog http://thedanobrienproject.blogspot.com. He recently started a consultation business. You can find more information about it here: http://www.amalgamconsulting.com/.